One Hell of a Family We Got Here
by MarblesG
Summary: Opal goes to her Aunt Lin after escaping from Zaofu resulting in an interesting conversation.


Her hand jerked to the right, ruining her report at the sound of the phone ringing.

"This better be good." The chief of police picked up and was everything but friendly. "What?"

"Chief, there is an airbender at the door. Requests for you immediately."

Lin wiped a hand across her face. She glanced over at the clock and was surprised at time. 12:40 am? She cleared her throat. "If it's Meelo again, please call Tenzin to retrieve him. Then send him back here."

"It isn't Meelo, Chief."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Ikki?"

"No."

"Jinora?"

"No, Chief."

"Then who the hell is it?"

There was a pause. "She claims to be your niece."

The phone slipped out of her hands. The fast reflexes she developed over the years allowed her to catch it before it could fall on the floor. She returned it to her ear. "Escort her to my office at once."

"Yes, Chief."

Once the phone was hung up, Lin got up and began pacing in her office. There could only be a couple of reasons why Opal could be visiting. The past three years allowed Opal to develop the relationship she had always wanted with her aunt. Unfortunately, the young girl was busy with keeping the peace and Lin had no time to hunt her down due to the demands of the police force. The only time they really could see each other was whenever Suyin requested for them both. It wasn't ideal, but when together, Lin tried her best to bond with Opal after making such a horrid first impression.

However, now was different. The fact that it was almost one in the morning didn't help ease her worry either.

A good wack in the face with a door helped her "relax" a bit.

The next time she came to, Lin was looking up at the ceiling while laying on the couch in her office. Her groan alerted the only other person in the room.

"Aunt Lin! You're awake. I'm so sorry."

The chief of police shot up at once. "Opal? What is it? What's wrong?"

Her niece was kneeling next to her, a pack of ice in her hand. "I'm so sorry for hitting you with the door. I was sort of panicked and just threw the doors open."

"It's whatever, Opal. Why are you here?"

The young airbender placed the ice on the bump on Lin's head causing her to hiss slightly. Again, Opal looked at her aunt apologetically. Nonetheless, her panic seemed to rejuvanate instantly. "Kuvira took over Zaofu!"

"What?" Lin stood up and begun checking her armor. "We gotta go!"

Opal pushed her back down. "I know. But it's okay, we have time."

"No way. We gotta go now. Where is your mother? Your siblings? Are they safe?"

"Aunt Lin, let me put a bandage on your wound." Her niece held up gauze and medical tape.

"Opal, we don't have time. You didn't answer my question."

"Let me do this first."

"Where is your mother?"

"I promise it will only take a second."

"Opal, did something happen to her? Did Kuvira get her? Was she being too god damn stubborn again?"

"Aunt Lin-"

"Where is my sister?"

Just like that, the urgency and need to hurry halted in the room. Lin had her eyes locked with her niece who looked back with both realization and fear. She didn't know what to call the emotion. The young Beifong approached Lin and dressed her wound gently and slowly.

Lin heard her sigh. "Mom and everyone are being held by Kuvira."

"Did Su try something stupid?" Opal looked down and found her Aunt's eyes closed in careful thought. "Like she always does."

There was no conversation for a good minute as Opal finished taping the gauze over the area. For some strange reason, Lin Beifong didn't hassle her to get her question answered. If it were anyone else, even Suyin, she would have been persistent. But Lin let Opal have her time. She knew that Opal was going crazy about the situation and freaking her out wasn't going to help.

The young woman bent down and kissed the wound on her Aunt. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

"Don't worry about it." Lin said gently. "I would have done the same thing. Come here and sit."

Opal sat down next to Lin. She looked at her hands worried. "Mom took Wing and Wei to infiltrate Kuvira's camp. But it was a trap and they got captured."

The chief of police shook her head. "Su, why are you such an idiot..."

"She was just trying to protect Zaofu."

"Yeah, well look where that got her. If she thought things through, like she never does, she would have remembered that she taught Kuvira everything she knew. Of course the bastard was going to set a trap. Now she got Wing and Wei in this mess too. Did your dad and Huan get captured?"

"I don't know. But probably. I don't think they would ever bow down to Kuvira." Opal buried her face in her hands. "It was awful. She took our home."

Lin patted her back awkwardly. She was never good at comfort. For Opal, she would try her best. "We're going to get it back. Don't worry."

Opal shocked her and turned into her chest to start crying. "They had Mom, Wei, and Wing in platinum cases. Their heads were the only thing sticking out. We flew away and left them."

"We?"

"Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Korra, and I."

"Korra was there? You guys found her?"

Opal sniffled. "Tenzin's kids found her. She came to Zaofu to stop Kuvira but they ended up dueling. Korra still wasn't up to it and Jinora and I had to get her and escape."

The chief of police stayed deep in thought. She spoke her thoughts out loud. "With Korra still out of commission, Zaofu is going to need everybody. Hmmmm..."

"What is it?" The younger of the two questioned.

"I wonder where Mom is..."

Opal lit up at once. "Oh! Jinora told me that they found Korra with Grandma Toph! She's living in the big swamp in the earth kingdom."

Lin scowled. "A swamp? Really?"

"Are we going to go and get her?" The younger woman sounded more and more hopeful. "I bet she could take care of Kuvira."

"Well, it was just a thought. I...well..."

"I know you haven't talked to her in a long time, but like you said, we need all the help we can get. Who better than Grandma Toph? We gotta fix Zaofu."

The chief of police mumbled under her breath. "Yeah, well, that won't be the only thing that needs fixing..."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom and I didn't really leave off on good terms. I was mad at her initially, but I think its the other way around now."

Opal smiled. "We are going to fix this. All of this."

Her nieces eyes were some kind of new animal. Whether it be the new aunt in her or something else, something in Lin couldn't resist the optimistic attitude. She smiled back. "Yes, we will."

Lin was upset to see her niece's face fall again. "I just wish Jr. didn't turn over to the dark side."

"Listen, I know what your brother did was wrong and all, and trust me when all this is over he is going to get one hell of a beating, but you gotta understand him."

"He betrayed our family. That's what I understand." The young woman scowled reminding the chief of police of her younger sister when she caught her doing something. It made her smile slightly.

"Man, for an air nomad, you sure are fiesty."

Opal continued to ride her emotional rollercoaster and dipped into sadness. "Jinora said the same thing. I wanted Korra to take down Kuvira. I don't understand why I wanted it so bad. I'm usually against violence. I should be against any confrontation like that."

"It's understandable. You family was threatened." The older of the two touched the gauze on her head and flinched at the sting. "Jeez, you really gave me one with the door."

Opal winced. "I was beyond freaked."

"Anyways, your family was threatened-"

"Our family."

Lin looked at her. "Yeah...um our family was threatened. Of course you acted out. Stuff like that usually hits the right nerve and gets us to say or do some crazy things. There was one time when your mom and I were kids and one of the triads tried raiding our house. Mom destroyed the streets getting to the house. The fight was nothing more than noise seeing that Su and I were hiding under the bed. I never heard what happened to that triad. For a whole week, Mom laid off work to stay with us. I'm sure your mother would agree with me when I say that was the best week of our lives."

"Well, she was protecting you. She didn't like anyone touching her girls."

"And just like that," Lin poked her in the head. "You didn't like anyone touching your home or family. It's the best excuse out there."

"I guess." Although she wasn't fully convinced, there was something in Opal's face that showed a change in thought.

The chief of police continued to prod at her wound. "Now, for your brother, all Jr. ever wanted was individuality. Individuality that would make your mom and dad proud. I'm sure when he first joined Kuvira he had that in mind, but three years with the bitch could change a person and he may have taken a detour towards that goal."

"But he acted like he despised Zaofu. He doesn't want to be part of our family anymore."

"Don't listen to him. He's just confused. When it comes down to it, he can't let anyone lay a finger on your parents or siblings."

Opal gave her a look saying that she needed more assurance. "Are you sure? He put Mom, Wei, and Wing-"

Lin interjected. "Kuvira did that. Not your brother. He'll act high and mighty, but somewhere under there is the dork we all know."

"I...still love him."

"Good. You're supposed to. I loved your mom, even when we weren't talking and no matter how much I told myself I shouldn't. Look at us now."

Opal let her aunt's wise words sink in. Things weren't good now, and there was no way to tell what will happen in the future, but if Lin was going to stay positive, she would too. When she looked back up, her aunt was still touching the bandage. "Is that bothering you? Should I change it?"

"It's not bothering me like that." Lin grunted and forced her hand away from her face. "Ever since I got these scars, I never really got comfortable with wounds on my face."

Her niece did the unpredictable and ran her fingers along the parallel scars of her cheek. Lin cringed.

"Oh! I'm sorry."

The chief of police spoke to her still tense. "No...it's okay. Just...don't do it again, alright? I know that's rude, but-"

Opal put her hand on her shoulder instead. "I get it."

They shared a moment. Seconds long in reality, but an eternity in their minds.

Lin stood up. "Well, we should really get going."

"Yes, of course!"

"We'll meet up with Tenzin since I'm sure he is coming. I'll ask him to stop by the swamp."

"We're really gonna get Grandma Toph?" Lin was glad that Opal's mood concluded with happiness.

"Yup. She's probably gonna kick my ass for ignoring her all these years, but that's okay. Once I get to Zaofu, I'm going to kick Kuvira's ass, then Suyin's ass, then Mom is going to kick her ass, then I'm going to kick her ass for staying in a swamp this entire time, then Su is going to kick her ass for the same reason, then Mom is going to kick both mine and your mother's ass and that will be the end of that."

"Wow, that's a lot of-"

Lin stared at her.

"Bonding. I was going to say bonding."

"If your mother didn't leave you and your younger sister in a pitch black cave on purpose to find the exit while staying about ten feet away the entire time on a badgermole who's roar scared the living shit out of you guys until you were running around in circles and she still refused to help, then you obviously don't know bonding."

"How long did it take you guys?"

"Eight hours."

"Oh well that's not bad "

"No, to finally stop running in circles."

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><p><strong>Another Anonnim request. Hope you guys liked it! Thanks for reading!<strong>


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